Maya on being a School Resilience Project student ambassador

I saw involvement in the project as a good opportunity. At our ambassador meetings we spoke about what changes we want to see in our school, the relationship between students and teachers, and having easier and better access to support. We also felt that students might have underlying issues as to why they may not be attending school or why their grades may be dropping. The way teachers would approach that in our school wasn’t the most empathetic or the most open minded.

I think the school welcomed the survey and some things have been set up. We have a dedicated welfare member of staff specifically for the sixth form and a lot more sixth formers were reaching out for support. There were also quite a few PHSE (Personal, Social, Health, and Economic education) workshops on things like sex education and substance abuse. Different organizations came into the school to speak about mental health, with younger people sharing their personal experiences rather than just doing an assembly about the different websites that you can go to find help.

I was also invited to attend several events. I learned about mental health clinics which offer walk-in and telephone consultations for young people. It’s more empowering to have that control over what you’re saying and who you’re speaking to. My own experiences using CAMHS (Child and Adolescent
Mental Health Services) highlighted the issues that arise when different mental health professionals provide support, each translating my words to one another.

At another event there were clinicians who were all very eager to hear the voices of young people. I really appreciated that we were able to speak to them, not just about the project, but how we feel about mental health in schools. It showed how much they care and how fervent they are about finding solutions.